Saturday 30 June 2012

My dream came true! I got a VW Campervan!


If you read my earlier post about campervan's, you will know how desperately I wanted one. If you haven't read it yet you might want to check it out here.  

Well, guess what?

On Wednesday Chris and I became the proud owners of a VW T25 Campervan. Hurrah! I am so excited to make him beautiful inside (yes, it is a he) but I thought I would share some photos of what he looks like now so you can all see the 'Before and After'.

But first things first, I had better tell you what his name is! We debated for some while on this. Chris wanted to call him Leonardo after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle with the blue headband. This didn't sound like a van name to me and reminded me of Leonardo DiCaprio, and that's just weird.  My Dad wanted me to call it Joey after a VW Beetle my Grandad once owned, and my Mum thought it should be called Bluebird because of the number plate (BRD). My work colleagues started calling it Smurfet after I had mentioned it looked rather like a Smuf. Other names were thrown in the mix: Myrtle, Jack Baur, Grace, but none really clicked... until ...

I had a brain wave in my car on the way home from work.  One of my favourite books is Great Expectations, and we sure have great expectations for this van. So what better name than that of the main character of said book 'Pip'! 

I think he looks like a Pip don't you?

Pip's interior is ok, but if you look closely he is getting shabby. I think we can do better! He's going to get a total make over.  We're going to have the units and cooker along the side where the window is to give us a bit more space. We'll probably put cupboard doors in that top cubby hole too. It's quite spacious! Not to mention nice new floor tiles, probably black and white checkered ones.
Here's the lounge/bedroom.  We're going to take that bed out and put in a 3/4 rock and roll bed instead. That way we can fit the cupboards up the side.
We'll have nice new curtains and seating too. I'll probably pick a dark beige/light brown fabric for this. Then we can accessorise with pretty coloured things (can you accessorise a van?)
Unfortunately the VW signs are missing from the front and the back! Poor Pip, he is VWless!  I am guessing a naughty youth stole them a while back. I will have to hunt down some replacements to cover his dignity. Ebay here I come!
Here's the front. I like how there are panels behind the seats. It makes me feel like an American trucker!    Those stickers were stuck on by one of the vans previous owners, apparently he was a surfer dude! I think we will try to take those off and maybe paint the panels a pretty colour if we can.
Today we have been cleaning the van out. Here we can see all of the treasures/rubbish Chris found hiding in the van (sorry he is half naked - it was hot work apparently).
Some of the treasures included; a pack of fairtrade sugar, a peg, a hook, two speaker covers, a mint, a paintbrush, a cable tie and a cuddly toy. Oh wait... no cuddly toy :(
One actual treasure I found was in the boot in this mysterious box. "What could it be?" I hear you ask.
Only a whole flippin' box of screwy wrench things (I have no idea what these are called - you know, you tighten stuff with them!) Anyway, Chris was happy!
I love our Pip! We have already had 3 fun evenings with him, and we haven't even been away yet. 

On Wednesday I was raring to go out and drive him (That says a lot because I am not the most confident of drivers and over the past 5 years I have only driven my little KA.) Chris took us to a car park so I could have a go without putting any road-goers in danger.  It's certainly tricky to find the gears, you basically have to hit the radio if you want to get into second, and even Chris is having a bit of trouble, but once we get used to it it will be fine! At least no one will be able to steal him!

On Thursday we drove him to the beach and had dinner in him,  it was lovely!

On Friday we sat and had a drink in him and discussed our makeover plans. Then this morning we had our breakfast and tea in him. The postman looked a bit confused when he spotted us!

I think this is going to make a huge difference to our lives and make us do things we would have never dreamt of doing before. Here's to adventure!
Pip, Jus' chillin'
Laura xXx

19 comments:

  1. awwww Pip is a fab choice!

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  2. The blue is amazing! You'll have so much fun in that!

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  3. Yay hello Pip! So looking forward to seeing how you decorate him inside.

    x

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  4. Oh yes, he definitely looks like a Pip :D
    Have fun reagganging it and make new accessory.
    I'd like to own one, too, when I see this nice one :)

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  5. awwh i'm so happy for you!! he is amazing, great name by the way! i can't wait to see photos of his makeover and your adventures, congratulations :) xx

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  6. Amazing! What a beautiful van- I'm so glad you've managed to get one! I think you can definitely accessorise a van. Pip is going to look very handsome once you've finished all your plans :) xx

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  7. Thanks for all of your lovely comments and congratulations! I feel a bit like I have just had a baby. Very glad I didn't actually have to give birth to Pip though! Ha!

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  8. Ahhhh, she's lovely! My van's called Peggy - I'm sure Pip and Peggy would be great friends :) So happy for you, I totally know the pure excitement and joy that these things bring - adventures R us! Katie. xxx

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  9. Wow that van is amazing!!!!! I love him! I want one of them sooooo bad.

    I found you because you started following me on twitter! you can check out my blog if your interested :) http://redfoodcolouring.blogspot.ca/

    Have a sunny day!

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    1. Aw, thanks :) I've popped by your blog and it looks great, I am sure I will be popping by more often soon :)

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  10. I Love Pip and the name definitely suits her, plenty of fun times ahead for you.
    We also have a VW and have spent many a happy hour tootling around in her. x

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    1. I'm sure there will be, I'm very excited. Your blog looks delightful by the way :)

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  11. Pip is officially awesome. Can't wait to see the finished result and the new curtains. Have a fab hols. x

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  12. Tee hee.

    Pip is a great name. My Fiat 500 is called Luigi! Why do we feel the need to name inanimate objects? :-)

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  13. Wow! That’s a pretty cool camper van. Pip looks so gorgeous with his light blue color. He also looks very lively. Although it appears to be quite small, you were able to maximize the use of space inside for the furniture. If you will customize it more according to your style, I’m sure he’s going to look more awesome.

    -Rosalinda Rudloff

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  14. Yeah, I think ‘Pip’ is a perfect name for your RV or campervan. Pip just needs a little makeover to make him look like new again. The exterior is good enough; he just needs to be cleaned so that his light blue color will appear more vibrant. Congrats! Your dream finally came true.

    >Kurt Bukowski

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  15. Pip is wicked cool! Where have you gone with him so far? He's a very comfy vehicle that doesn't require much space for parking. I think envy you right now. I want one like him. Haha!


    Tia Oshields

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  16. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP! YOU GOT HIM! GEDDON PIP! Hope you will have the greatest adventures with him (oh I know you will!) :) So happy to see this!

    Love, Katie. XXXXXXX

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